A Superhero's Holiday
by turtlegirl42
Summary: Ever wondered how a superhero spends Christmas? A series of one-shots exploring how different superheroes celebrate Christmas. Contains both Marvel and DC superheroes.
1. Watchmen

**A Superhero's Holiday**

By turtlegirl42

I do not own Watchmen.

Note: Please review, as I enjoy feedback; and with your feedback I can make my fan-fiction more fun and entertaining.

Chapter 1: Watchmen

Christmas was here. Daniel could feel it.

As he walked down the streets of Manhattan, a brisk winter wind blew and there was a good inch or more of snow on the ground, covering the garbage that usually littered the streets.

Daniel entered a corner coffee shop, warming his cold and numb hands with his coffee, and choosing to sit in a window seat, looking out on the streets of New York. Christmas music lilted in the background.

Looking out the window, Dan's mind began to wander, and he thought about what the oncoming holiday season meant.

Dan had several things he needed to do; give Archie a winter tune-up, bring out his winter suit (spandex in the winter was too cold!), among other things. Of course, crime never took a holiday. In fact, crime was at its worst during the Christmas season. Which was ironic if you thought about it, Dan mused, because Christmas was _supposed_ to be about giving and caring about others.

Anyhow, Dan had decided that this year, he was going to give Christmas presents to everyone (i.e. the other Watchmen).

Unfortunately, masked vigilantes were hard to buy for.

Dan wondered what the heck he was going he was going to give Rorschach. He knew hardly anything about the guy. Dan only knew that he threw a mean left hook, he stank like garbage, and…well… he was slightly weird. Okay, more than slightly. But Rorschach had grown on Dan and he could help but like him.

Dan was still mighty stumped on what to give Rorschach that wouldn't earn him a punch in the face. A book, maybe?

"Hurm."

Dan didn't even bother to look up. "Hey there, Rorschach."

"Hello, Daniel," Rorschach replied in that monotone voice of his.

Rorschach and Dan continued a mostly one-sided conversation, with Dan doing most of the talking.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Rorschach asked, "Do you ice skate, Daniel?"

Taken aback, Dan replied. "Um, no. I don't know how to ice skate.

"Will teach you sometime. Fun thing to do."

With that, Rorschach slipped out of the coffee shop.

"See you tonight!" Daniel called after him. But Rorschach was already long gone.

Daniel was baffled. _Ice skating?!?_ But now he thought he had the perfect idea for a Christmas gift for Rorschach…


	2. Spiderman

**A Superhero's Holiday**

By turtlegirl42

**I do not own Spiderman.**

**Note: Please review, as I enjoy feedback; and with your feedback I can make my fan-fiction more fun and entertaining.**

Chapter 2: Spiderman

Spiderman had really wanted to join in the holiday festivities. Hey, everyone else was doing it, right? Why not Spiderman?

Besides, nobody celebrated the Christmas holidays like New York did.

But Peter Parker had to admit that wearing a Santa hat and swinging around the city really _wasn't_ the greatest idea.

For one thing, while he was swinging, it kept threatening to fall off. It actually _did_ fall off a couple of times, and he _definitely _wasn't going to go dive-bombing fifty stories to find it.

Another problem was that the criminals did not appreciate Spidey's appreciation for Christmas.

Okay, they laughed at him.

The worst of them was the Green Goblin. He took Spiderman's hat, put a pumpkin bomb in it, and threw it at him. And the next time they met, the Green Goblin had his hover-glider decked out in red and green lights and threw bombs shaped like Christmas ornaments at Spiderman. "Is this festive enough for you, Spiderman?"

Not to mention the fact that he was made a complete laughingstock of in The Daily Bugle.

"SPIDERMAN THINKS HE'S SANTA CLAUS!" the headline blared, with a picture of Spiderman with his festive hat on beneath.

Needless to say, Peter was drained of most of his holiday spirit.

But that didn't mean he became a Scrooge. He still wished fellow New Yorkers happy holidays as he passed, and was still pretty psyched about the holidays.

Because this year, he was spending Christmas with MJ. And that…well, nothing, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING could beat that.

And that's exactly what Peter did. Christmas Eve was spent at his apartment with MJ, baking Christmas cookies, listening to Christmas music, and watching the simulated fireplace at Peter's apartment.

But then the inevitable happened. "We now interrupt this holiday music to give some important and devastating news. There has been a twelve-car pileup on the corner of 38th St. and Broadway. Injuries have been reported, and it would be wise to steer clear from this area tonight during your last minute Christmas shopping."

Peter didn't know what to say. Mary Jane knew, of course, but Christmas Eve? He really didn't want to ruin the evening by leaving. On the other hand, there were injuries… Peter really felt obligated to help.

Mary Jane saw him deep in thought and grinned. "Hey, Spiderman, you go save some lives and spread some Christmas cheer," she said, tossing him his spider suit.

Peter was just about to leave when Mary Jane called, "Hey, wait!" She tossed him a Santa hat. "Go spread some holiday cheer," she said, grinning.

Peter took the Santa hat, smiling. Hey, why not? It _was_ Christmas Eve. And with a quick goodbye kiss to Mary Jane, Peter swung off into the chilly night air.


	3. Nick Fury

**This is written by Spittlebug, who wanted to write a character, too.**

**Note from Spittlebug: May be slightly out-of-character. Inspired by the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance video game. Mostly just drabble, anyway. Enjoy!**

**I do not own Nick Fury.**

**Chapter 3: Nick Fury**

Colonel Nick Fury walked into his quarters on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier and locked the door. He went over to a cupboard and poured himself a shot of whiskey.

He sighed as he sat down in a comfy swivel chair. It was Christmas Eve, and once again, he was alone. There weren't that many agents on-board, actually; most of them had gone home to spend time with their families.

Pffft. "Family." The word had no meaning to Nick Fury. His parents long dead, along with his traitor brother, he had no immediate family. Heck, even most of the superheroes had family to spend their Christmas with. Well, except Wolverine, maybe, and he was not getting started on that.

Christmas was just another day. His quarters showed his opinion of the holiday: no decorations of any sort. But still…Christmas always made him think of lost relationships and what could've been…

He finished his whiskey and decided to go for a walk to clear his head. Just…he'd had enough of thinking about things that would never happen. Maybe he could even get some work done.

Only, he just walked into the hallway when he bumped into Natasha Romanoff, his closest advisor and the nearest thing that he had to a friend. Also known as the Black Widow, she was Russian and Fury trusted her more above anyone else.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Natasha exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"Um, yes, I'm fine," he replied, shaking himself off. "I wasn't aware that you were still aboard, Black Widow."

"Yes," she said curtly. "I do not have any family to go home to."

Nick Fury shook his head. "I don't either."

There was an awkward pause. Then Natasha spoke up, "Where were you headed anyway?"

"To the cargo bay, to check inventory…"

Natasha cut him off. "Come on, Colonel. Don't you have anything better to do? It's Christmas Eve."

There was a long silence. "It's just another night," said Nick Fury sternly. "There's always work to be done on this helicarrier, and…"

"Let's go to my quarters," the Black Widow suggested. "You never seem to have any fun, and maybe it's time that you did."

Natasha's quarters were decorated for the yuletide season. Lights hung in the windows, and a tree sat in the corner. The pair sat on Natasha's couch for a few minutes, then the Black Widow got up to make some hot chocolate.

"It's a shame," Nick Fury said suddenly.

"What's that?" his friend asked.

"When I was…a kid, I always thought that after my adventurous military career, I'd settle down, have a wife, maybe some kids…" He sighed. "If I could go back, I wouldn't change anything, but…still, sometimes we all have these regrets."

Natasha moved closer to Fury. "Well," she started, "we could try something…together."

The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. was so shocked he almost spilled his cup of cocoa. But his voice kept its' stoic calmness. "Natasha, we couldn't do something like that. It would be so…unprofessional. Besides, I like you just as a friend."

"Face it, Matt and I have been through for a long time. And you – well, you've been so busy that you haven't had time for a serious relationship."

Nick Fury had to admit to himself that these facts were true. And he would be lying if he didn't say that he caught himself staring at Natasha from time to time. "Still…" he said. "Let's talk it over."

So they talked a few hours away, Black Widow on the pro side, Fury strongly against. In the end, though, Fury caved. It couldn't hurt, he thought, to love again…

The day after Christmas, all of his agents had returned from their holiday celebrations. Nick Fury faced them all now with a new twinkle in his eye. His Christmas had been good for once, and who knows how long this would last…but anyway, he had things to do and people to yell at.

"Come on, agents, let's get to work."


	4. XMen

**A Superhero's Holiday**

By turtlegirl42

**I do not own X-Men, or Spiderman.**

**Chapter 4: X-Men**

Professor Xavier sat looking out the window and smiled. It was that time of year again. There was bite in the windy, cold air and there was a good six inches of snow on the ground.

Jean Grey, Emma Frost, Nightcrawler and a few other X-Men had just started decorating; putting up strings of lights, hanging up Christmas wreaths, and decorating small Christmas trees throughout the school. The students, of course, were all very excited about the holidays—Xavier would have known that even if he weren't psychic. That meant it was time to prepare for the Christmas party, too…

Wolverine sat at the table, a beer in his hands. He hated the holidays. Christmas was just a time when people pretended to be nice to each other so they could ease their guilty consciences. The real meaning of Christmas, it seemed, had been forgotten altogether.

Kurt, of course, was an exception to that rule.

The other thing that Wolverine hated about Christmas was that the professor threw a Christmas party every year during Christmas vacation for the X-Men. Wolverine hated parties. But the professor always _insisted_ that he go. Logan wasn't going to bother arguing with him.

Wolverine wondered who it would be this year.

Every year, when the professor threw his party, he would invite a guest who wasn't affiliated with the X-Men, usually someone who operated in Manhattan. Last year he had invited Iron Man. What a jerk. The _whole_ time he had just talked about himself.

Wolverine hated Christmas. But he hated parties (and unwanted guests) even more.

Peter Parker stared incredulously at the envelope sitting on his kitchen counter.

While he was checking his Spiderman fan mail (I mean, what superhero _doesn't_ get fan mail?!?) when there was something that had caught his eye. It was now sitting on his kitchen counter, daring him to open it.

He hadn't opened it before now because the return address read "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters." He _certainly_ wasn't a gifted youngster, and frankly, just the envelope creeped him out.

Now MJ was harassing him to open it. "Come on, what's the worst that could happen?" she cajoled.

_A letter bomb_, Peter thought, but opened it anyway.

It was an invitation, and it read as such:

Spiderman,

You are cordially invited

To the annual X-Men Christmas Party

At Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters

Westchester, NY

December 22, 2009

6:00 pm—10:00 pm

Please join us for some Christmas cheer.

Sincerely,

Professor Charles Xavier

Peter gave MJ a confused look. _What is this all about?_ he thought.

MJ shot back an equally baffled look. "Well, I think you should go. But, get directions to Westchester first, dear."

Peter was nervous about the whole thing. But you never knew until you tried, did you? Heck, why not? He would go.

It was the night of the Christmas party, and the X-Men were drinking eggnog and making small talk. Really, of course, they were waiting anxiously for the guest to arrive.

Nightcrawler was slowly turning around the ceiling, his tail curled around a blade of the ornate ceiling fan. Wolverine was sitting in a chair, popping his claws in and out and looking temperamental as usual. Jean Grey and Cyclops were making out on the couch, and Storm and the Beast were having a meaningful conversation by the Christmas tree. Professor X was watching over the whole thing. A small stereo sat in the corner, playing soft Christmas music.

Suddenly the professor said, "Our guest is here," and promptly left the room. The whole room was abuzz.

Peter Parker knocked on the door. Almost immediately the door was answered by a middle-aged bald man in a wheelchair. "We've been expecting you," the man said, his voice warm and welcoming. "I'm Professor Charles Xavier," he said.

"Um, I'm sure you already know who I am, but I'm Spiderman," Peter said lamely.

The "professor" said nothing, but started gliding down the corridor. Peter just followed him.

They went into the room where the party was being held. For a minute, the X-Men stared at him blankly. Then Peter waved and said, "Um, hi?"

A gruff-looking man wearing jeans and a t-shirt came over and shook his hand. "Welcome to the party, bub. I've bet you've come a long way, so you might as well have a little fun." He handed Spider-man a beer.

The rest of the night was spent drinking, exchanging stories and singing. Everyone, even Wolverine, had a good time. _Hey,_ Wolverine thought, laughing with Spider-man, _maybe these parties aren't so bad after all_.


	5. Iron Man

A Superhero's Holiday

By turtlegirl42

Disclaimer: I do not own Iron Man, Doctor Octopus, or any other Marvel character featured in this fan-fiction. Chapter 5 – Iron Man

Tony Stark banged his armor-plated fists on the table in frustration. It was Christmas Eve, and Tony would rather spend his Christmas Eve sitting by the fire, listening to Christmas music and drinking a cup of eggnog. (Make that a carton or two of eggnog.)

But _oh no. _As leader (and moneylender) of the Avengers, he was obligated to host the Avenger's Christmas party every year. Iron Man wouldn't have minded if it was just the Avengers. At the most, there were ten people on the team at any given time.

But most of the time, every superhero from the triple cities would show up, and he would have to break up a fistfight between two heroes.

The party was already underway, and there would be more coming. Tony could hear the holiday music and chatter coming from the next room.

Iron Man put his head down in exasperation. He hated doing this every year. But it was expected of him, and sometimes he actually had fun. Oh, what would he give for a few beers… But he'd pledged at AA not to drink over the holidays, and –

"Tony?" Pepper Potts said, interrupting his thoughts.

Iron Man lifted his head. "Yes, Pepper?"

"A Dr. Otto Octavius wants to be let in, sir," she said.

Tony stood up, stretching. Wait, who did she say - ? Never mind that. "He's probably here for the party," he said groggily. "Let him up."

"Excuse me, but did you say _Dr. Otto Octavius_?" Spiderman was suddenly in the office, hands on his hips. He didn't look very happy.

Pepper clicked a couple keys. "Yes, Spiderman. He's on his way up."

Spiderman ran into the room where the party was being held, Iron Man hot on his heels.

The former quickly got everyone's attention. "Okay, okay, everybody!" he shouted. In a lower voice, he said, "It has come to my attention that Mr. Christmas Spirit here," he indicated a finger at Iron Man, "has let a supervillain into our party."

There was a collective gasp, as Iron Man stood puzzled, trying to think of who the villain could be, and then the room quickly fell into heated debate on what to do. The solutions ranged from "let him join the party" (Captain America) to "kill him" (Deadpool).

Their debate was abruptly cut short by a piercing, feminine scream.

"And the unanimous decision is: I distract, you gang up on him," Spiderman said. Iron man and Spiderman entered the lobby to witness an utterly shocking scene.

Doctor Octopus had Pepper by the throat with one of his extra arms and was shaking her violently. The office itself was in shambles, a decorative Christmas tree turned over on the floor and decoration scattered everywhere. "WHERE IS SPIDERMAN?!?" he roared.

"Excuse me, are you looking for someone?" Iron Man asked. Spiderman was now hanging on the ceiling.

Doc Ock dropped Pepper Potts with a thump. He turned around to face Iron Man, his face red and livid with rage. There was a huge gash on his cheek. "I'm looking for Spiderman!" he growled.

At that moment, Doctor Octopus got a kick in the face by Spiderman, who dropped down from his spot on the ceiling. Doc Ock grabbed Spiderman and held him fast in one of his tentacles.

"Can't you stop this? Just for Christmas?" Spiderman asked, struggling.

"Why should I?" Doc Ock said. "Besides, what does a holiday like Christmas mean to me?"

While Spiderman was struggling against Doc Ock's iron grip, Nightcrawler was hanging from a hook on the ceiling. Without warning he dropped onto the good doctor's face. This signaled everyone to gang up on Doc Ock.

Within a matter of minutes, the superheroes had beaten Doc Ock unconscious. They stared at him lying on the office floor. "What should we do with him?" Iron Man asked.

"Kill him?" Deadpool asked excitedly, katanas in hand.

Spiderman gave Deadpool a dirty look. "No, we're not going to kill him."

"Then what should we do? We can't leave him out in the cold on Christmas Eve," Captain America declared. The superheroes pondered over the problem for about the fifteen minutes. Finally they decided to leave him there. He'd get the hint once he woke up to leave.

Later in the evening, Iron Man was standing on the balcony, his helmet off. He was leaning over the edge. It certainly had been an eventful evening so far. He had actually been having a good time for once. (How about that!)

Tony felt a presence behind him. He turned around to see Mr. Fantastic standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hi, Reed. Care to join me?"

"Of course," Reed replied.

They looked out the balcony for a few minutes in silence.

"Something's bothering you, Tony. What is it?" Reed asked.

"A couple things." Tony replied. "I feel guilty for letting Doc Ock in earlier. And honestly? Holding a party of this size every year puts a lot of stress on me."

Reed stood there for a moment, and then he clapped a hand on Tony's shoulder. "Don't worry about Ock," he said, smiling. "And as for the party…you should have said something! Any of us would be happy to help."

"Oh," said Tony gratefully. "Thank you."

"Any time, friend," Mr. Fantastic said. They walked off the balcony and into the dining room where the Christmas merriment was at its peak.

Much, much later, after the party had ended, Doc Ock woke up. He had a massive headache. Ugh, he thought. What an awful idea that had been. Crashing the Avenger's Christmas party – what had he been thinking?

He stumbled in the dark to reach the door, only to discover that it was locked. Great. This was the worst Christmas ever.


	6. Fantastic Four

**A Superhero's Holiday**

By turtlegirl42

**Note: I do not own the Fantastic Four, or Bruce Banner. **

**Author's Note: The user Spittlebug wrote this chapter. The last part of Chapter 5 was also written by Spittlebug.**

**Chapter 6: Fantastic Four**

Ben Grimm pulled into the shabby little parking lot. A sign in front announced that he had arrived at "Yacano's Tree Farm." He shut the engine off on his trusty blue pick-up, and went tromping in the snow.

The Fantastic Four had lots of Christmas trees at the Baxter Building, but one was just for their personal use. Ben went to pick up a tree every year a week before Christmas. Man, he loved the holidays. This was always a treat for him, going on an upstate drive for a few hours to get an extra-special tree.

After several hours of wandering in the lot, Ben found the perfect tree for the Fantastic Four. He surveyed it for a few moments, then instead of chopping it down with the axe he had brought, Ben pulled it out by its roots and set the tree on the ground. He began slowly sawing off the roots. _Hmm_, he thought. _I ought to do that every year_.

"I wish I could do that," a voice behind him said.

Ben turned around. Without his trusty lab coat, he was difficult to recognize, but his timid demeanor and voice gave him away. "Oh, heya, Bruce!" he said, excited to see another hero. "Thought you were still at the OMEGA Base."

"Nah," Bruce Banner, also known as the Incredible Hulk, replied. "They gave me a two week vacation."

"Bet they had to force ya to take it," the Thing said jokingly. Bruce was known to spend unnecessary time in the lab. He began tying up the tree with twine. "Anyway, you deserved it."

"Thanks," blushed Bruce. He walked back with Ben to the owner's hut to pay for the tree. With an odd look from the tree farmer, he paid for the tree with Bruce looking on. _I wonder what the others are doing_, the Thing thought…

-----

"Johnny, put those candles in the rooms and light them; the candle brackets are in storage."

Reed Richards had an armful of Christmas lights. "Sue and I will be outside stringing lights. Don't cause any trouble, okay?"

"Sure I won't!" Johnny Storm said a little overenthusiastically.

"Oh, yeah," Reed said, "almost forgot." He quickly grabbed a red and green plastic box with one hand from the hallway. He put it in front of Johnny. "Could you hang up these decorations, too? Thanks." Mr. Fantastic walked out the door.

The Human Torch sighed. Lucky them. _They _got to hang up lights, while _he_ had to stay in the apartment and put up corny decorations. Oh, well.

Meanwhile, Reed and Sue were in front of the Baxter Building, getting ready to hang up the lights. "Can we hurry up, Reed?" Sue asked. "It's cold out here!"

"Well, you can go back inside if you want, dear," Mr. Fantastic said, stretching way up to get lights above the doorway. "I can do fine on my own."

"Are you sure?" his wife asked, handing him another strand of lights.

"Yes, I'm fine." With a few quick words and a kiss, Reed's wife was gone. I'll make short work of this, Mr. Fantastic thought…

-----

Meanwhile, Johnny had decided to bake some Christmas cutout cookies before decorating. _These will be great_, he thought. _The Thing will probably eat them all, but I can always make more_. With the last batch in the oven, the Human Torch began decorating… and forgot all about the cookies.

-----

A few hours later, Ben drove up in front of the Baxter Building. He was sure that everyone would be happily surprised, because he hadn't told the others that he would be getting the tree today. He would need help taking the tree up the stairs, though.

The first thing the Thing saw was Reed. "Heya Reed! I got our Christmas tree, and—" He looked closer to see that Mr. Fantastic had somehow tied himself to a pillar in a tangle of Christmas lights. "Wha the—?" It was a funny sight.

"Darn it all," Reed said, struggling. "Can you help, Ben?"

The Thing tried to untangle the lights, but only managed to shatter half of the bulbs. "Sorry, Reed. You'll have to ask Sue."

"But she went shopping!" he exclaimed. "And I'm freezing!"

"Well, I'll get Johnny, then," Ben said. Oh, man. Reed was going to have a hard time living this one down.

When he reached the apartment, Johnny was holding a flaming candelabra. "Oh, hey, Ben!" He then proceeded to trip on the carpet, dropping the candelabra in the process. "Whoops!" Johnny exclaimed.

"Move it, kid!" Ben said, pushing Johnny aside. He flattened his body over the flaming carpet, smothering the flames. Getting up, he saw that his chest was blackened. He'd get to that later. "Be more careful, Johnny!" Ben said angrily.

"Sorry," Johnny said, but he had a little grin on his face. _That kid…_Ben thought. Suddenly he smelled burning.

"What's that?" the Thing asked. "Is something on fire again?"

"Oh, crap!" the Human Torch said. "The cookies!" He ran into the kitchen and pulled some blackened lumps out of the oven. Smoke billowed into the kitchen, and Ben hacked loudly. "Whew!" Johnny sighed, bringing in a fan to clear out the smoke. "That was close!"

"Yeah, well, we have other problems," the Thing grumbled. "Reed is a Popsicle outside; he got himself tangled in lights."

"Why didn't you say so?!" Johnny asked. Ben was going to say, "Because you were setting things on fire," but thought against it.

-----

Soon they were outside, where Mr. Fantastic had actually turned blue. "I'll heat you up!" Johnny said, switching to flame mode. Unfortunately, Ben's truck, which was still idling, had a gas leak, and the Torch's fire caught it on the ground. The Thing yelled, "The tree! My truck!" before the truck, with the tree in the back, exploded. Luckily, all of them were far enough away so that they didn't get hurt. Reed, who had now gotten himself untangled, quipped dryly, "I wonder how we're going to explain that to the insurance company."

Ben felt so awful. Here he was, trying to spread a little Christmas cheer, and what did he get? One disaster after another. He put his head in his hands.

Just then, Sue walked over to them. "Oh, guys, the worst thing just happened! I totaled the Fantasicar, and…" She paused a moment. "Looks like you all have your own set of problems."

Reed brushed some ashes off himself. "Uh, let's just take a break from decorating today, what do you guys think?" Everyone nodded solemnly. "And just think, even though all this stuff happened, at least we have each other."

And Ben grudgingly had to admit that that was all that really mattered.

-----

**Author's Note:** Thank you for all the wonderful reviews so far! If there is any other superhero you would like me to write about, please tell me and I'll try to get onto it. Thanks again, and please review in the future!


	7. Doc Ock

**A Superhero's Holiday**

By turtlegirl42

**Author's Note: I am writing this based on the suggestion of Derek Metaltron. Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews and suggestions! I really appreciate them. Anyway, on with the show…!**

**-----**

**Chapter 7: Doc Ock**

Dr. Otto Octavius stared at the Christmas tree.

The Christmas tree was on the ground _next_ to the Dumpster, as though the person who had threw it there was just too lazy to throw it into the Dumpster. There wasn't anything wrong with it; in fact it was quite nice, for a Christmas tree.

Doc Ock had no idea why someone would want to throw a perfectly good Christmas tree out.

Unless they were like him and never had a Christmas.

Doc Ock hated the holidays. They meant nothing to him. Nothing. Doc Ock (as everyone in New York knew) had an extremely short temper, and during the holidays, his temper was even shorter. He really hated people who were all about spreading "Christmas cheer" during the holidays, but the rest of the year acted like rude, inconsiderate idiots.

Hypocrites.

Doc Ock continued staring at the tree, a battle between bringing the tree home and leaving it ensuing in his mind. Finally, the bringing the tree home side won and he picked the tree up with his bare hands, shaking it to make sure there wasn't any loose tinsel or vermin inside it. The tree wasn't very large, only about 4' tall, but it was good enough for him. He didn't even know why he was doing this. Maybe because he needed a little Christmas cheer.

Whatever that was.

Doc Ock proceeded to carry the tree home (home being an abandoned warehouse near the docks) when who should he meet walking on the street but Spiderman.

Spiderman.

What was _he_ doing walking along the street like a tourist, anyway? Couldn't he, if he wanted, just swing across the city? Doc Ock was sure it was _a lot _faster than walking, or calling a cab, for that matter.

Doc Ock put his head down and kept on walking, hoping he wouldn't notice. The last thing he wanted was a confrontation with Spiderman. Not here. Not now. The last time they had fought, Spiderman had won, and Doc Ock really didn't want a rematch right now.

Unfortunately, Spiderman noticed. "Hey! Doc Ock…is that you?"

_Keep on walking_, he thought. _Ignore him and keep on walking…_

But the wall crawler wouldn't leave him alone. "Hey, I asked you a question. What are you doing?"

Doc Ock looked up. Spiderman was standing right in front of him. "What do you want?" he said through gritted teeth. "I'm not bothering anyone, I'm minding my own business. Would you please leave me alone?"

There was a long, uncomfortable silence. If Spiderman had had his mask off, Doc Ock was sure he would see shock etched on Spiderman's face. Finally Spiderman moved aside and said, "Sorry! Umm…Merry Christmas…?"

Doc Ock said nothing but brushed past him, the Christmas tree slapping Spiderman on the side of the head. "Ouch!"

Spiderman watched Doc Ock disappear into the bustling crowd. _Wow_, Spiderman thought. He had noticed that Doc Ock had been carrying a Christmas tree._ I wonder if he has anyone to spend Christmas with. Probably not_. Spiderman felt a little sorry for the super villain. Even if he _was_ a super villain and altogether evil, no one should have to spend Christmas alone.

Spiderman supposed that was the fate and punishment of criminals and super villains—eternal loneliness.

-----

**What do you think? I'm running out of ideas here, so any suggestions would be helpful. Please review, and thank you for reading!**


	8. Batman

Bruce Wayne sat in the Batcave at a computer console, staring at a map of Gotham City. _If I were him, where would I go?_ he thought.

"Would you like anything to eat?" Alfred asked, entering the room.

"I'm fine, Alfred," Bruce replied, still staring intently at the screen. They sat in silence for a few minutes, then Bruce suddenly stood up. He had the answer. "I'm going out, Alfred."

"On Christmas Eve, Bruce?" his butler asked.

"Crime doesn't take a holiday," Bruce replied, suiting up.

"I knew you'd say that," Alfred grinned. "Just don't get too hurt, okay? I don't want to have to mop you up on Christmas."

Bruce laughed. "I'll try," he said, climbing into the Batmobile.

* * *

Batman pulled up to the Westlong Mall, a little outside Gotham City. He'd checked some other malls, but he figured that this one would be most likely to be targeted. Sure enough, police cars surrounded the area. Bruce walked over to one of the cops. "Where's Commissioner Gordon?" he demanded.

"He's not here; this isn't technically Gotham City anymore."

Darn, Bruce thought. I'll just have to do without the Commissioner tonight.

He entered the mall through a skylight in the roof of the building. He hung in the rafters for a moment to watch what was going on.

The Joker was holding a little girl to his chest and waving around a gun, to the absolute terror of the other shoppers in the mall. "Now if you don't do what I say," he cackled, "some harm might come to Little Miss Perfect here!"

Batman had had quite enough. He floated majestically down from the rafters. "What is your diabolical plan this time, Joker?" he demanded. The Joker let the girl go to confront the Bat.

"Why so serious?" he asked. "I just wanted to steal from the rich," he indicated the stores in the mall, "to give to the poor! Is there something wrong with that?!?" The Joker spat out the last word.

Batman stepped forward and got into the Joker's face. He pulled the psycho up by the cuff of his shirt. "Look," he growled, "I have to deal with crazies like you all year long. But when you try to pull something on Christmas Eve, Joker, well, that just makes me angry. Very angry." He dropped the Joker to the floor, and noticed that all of the hostages were still watching. Hmm. Joker must've locked all the doors. Bruce had an idea. _This probably wouldn't work if Harley Quinn were here,_ he thought, _but luckily she isn't._ He scooped up two shopper in his arms an, creating a zipline with a Batarang, flew up through the mall's skylight.

Now he was on the roof, still clutching the two frightened shoppers. "Don't worry," Batman said, "this won't hurt." He glided down safely and set them on the ground. They thanked him quickly and left.

Suddenly Batman heard footsteps around him. He grinned to himself. Sometimes the Joker could be so predictable. The Joker had unlocked the doors to distract him with some thugs. Well, this would be a piece of cake. "C'mon Batman," one of the thugs taunted, "show us what you've got!"

He showed them.

* * *

Five minutes later, Batman came back into the mall to see the Joker carrying goods and trying to make a quick getaway. "Did you really think that you'd be able to escape that easy?" Batman asked. "Besides, police are surrounding the whole area. You're not going to get out of this one, Joker."

The Joker thought for a minute. And here he was, thinking that this would be an easy job. But no, the stupid BatJerk had to come in and ruin everything. Ah well. "Look," he finally said, "I don't care if it's Christmas, Easter, New Year's, or Hanukkah, but you're in for a real bashing tonight, Bats."

Oh great, Bruce thought, the Joker wants to fight. Couldn't he just give it up? But the Joker was a psycho and psychos never give up. But he prepared himself to fight anyway. Suddenly, a figure swung from the second floor of the mall. He knocked the Joker senseless to the ground. And as the figure got up, Bruce could see that it was Tim Drake, his former sidekick.

"Long time no see, Tim," Bruce said. "I was beginning to wonder if you weren't going to come over for Christmas like you always do."

"Well, give me a break, Bruce," Tim said. "I've been busy. And besides, I stopped by the Justice League party, but I must've missed you."

"I forgive you," Bruce said jokingly as they walked out of the mall. "And thanks for taking out the Joker."

"No problem."


End file.
